Peerage Basics

A peer of the realm is one who holds one (or more of five possible) title(s) of
nobility and the estate(s) bestowed upon him or his direct ancestor by the monarch.
Although other members of his family might be addressed by "Lord This" and
"Lady That," none of them are peers; their titles are allcourtesy titles, including his wife's (although she is usually
called a "peeress")(1). A duke
or duchess is addressed as "Your Grace" by social inferiors, and as
"Duke" or "Duchess" by social equals(1a)
(unfortunately I have not been able to discover what exactly "social equal"
means). All other peers and peeresses are called by "Lord" or
"Lady" prefixed to the title, for example, Lord Spencer or Lady Thatcher.

The five titles, in descending order of precedence, or rank, are:

Duke

Marquess (or, in the French and Scottish spelling, Marquis)

Earl

Viscount

As you'd expect from the ranking, dukes have always been the rarest British noble
title. There have never been more than 40 non-royal dukedoms in being at any one time, and
ordinarily there have been fewer than that. Today there are about 25 of them.(3) Barons, being the lowest rank of nobility, have
usually been the most numerous of the five degrees. The next most numerous dignity has
usually been that of Earl; Marquesses and Viscounts have always been comparatively less
numerous, though not so rare as the dukes.

In 1818, however, there were more earls than barons. There were 25
non-royal dukes, 31 marquesses, 212 earls, 69 viscounts, and 193 barons. These numbers
include 21 peeresses in their own right: six countesses and 15
baronesses, but they do not include subsidiary titles (i.e., only the
highest-ranking title held by the peer is counted).(4)

D

M

E

V

B

Total

English

18

17

95

20

106

261

Scottish

6

2

44

2

22

76

Irish

1

12

73

47

65

198

Total

25

31

212

69

193

535

Peers sit in the House of Lords. On 26th January 1996 the House of Lords (excluding Irish
peers, whose peerages do not confer a right to a seat in the House of Lords) was composed
as follows(5):

Hereditary Peers (Excluding the 12 hereditary peers of
the first creation)

757 (16 of whom are women)

Life Peers and hereditary peers of the first creation
("created peers")

391 (67 of whom are women)

Law Lords

24 (none of whom are women)

Archbishops and Bishops

26 (none of whom are women)

Total

1198

Only a peer may be said to hold a title "in his/her own right." All other titles
are courtesy titles(6).

There are five types of peerages in Great Britain: peers of England, Scotland, Ireland,
Great Britain, and the United Kingdom(7). This
makes a great difference in precedence, and in some cases, privilege. The higher the rank, the more likely it is that the
peer holds several peerages, which may be
distributed throughout the five peerages, depending upon their dates of creation.

Historically, retired prime ministers have been granted a peerage, traditionally an
earldom, and then serve in the House of Lords(8).
(Some of them had peerages before they became prime minister, so they would have been
elevated.) Churchill was offered, and turned down, the Dukedom of Dover(9). Anthony Eden was created Earl of Avon,(10) but he had no heirs.(11) Harold MacMillan was offered an earldom, but
declined;(12) but later, on his 90th
birthday, he was created Earl of Stockton.(13)
Margaret Thatcher was granted a life peerage as a baroness.(14)

Women were not allowed a seat in the House of Lords, even if they held a peerage in their own right, until the 1963 Peerage Act granted them that
right.(15) Nonetheless, before then they held
all of the other privileges which attended their specific
peerage, although often if the peerage carried with it some special office, the office
would be fulfilled by the peeress's husband.(16)
In addition, wives of peers enjoyed many of the privileges of peers, including a trial in
the House of Lords rather than by jury.(17)

The Most Stingy Monarch award goes to Elizabeth I, who created only eight peerages in
the 54 years of her reign.(18) James I
invented the baronetcy, a hereditary knighthood (a
"Sir" rather than a Lord, and not a peer), which he sold blatantly to fund his
Irish wars;(19) Victoria used the baronetcy
to reward persons (often those engaged in Trade) who deserved recognition but should not
be cluttering up the House of Lords; in the Georgian era, Irish peerages were most often
granted to Englishmen with no connection to Ireland, for much the same reason.(20) In our century, creation of titles has had less
to do with the monarch and more to do with the prime minister. Some blatantly sold titles;
others passed them out as a reward for serving the Party rather than the country.(21) More than half -- 125 -- of the hereditary
baronies existent today were created during this century, most between the end of World
War II and 1964, after which the government apparently abandoned hereditary peerages
almost altogether in favor of the life peerages which may be created under the 1958 Act.

A baronetcy is a dignity that passes down from generation
to generation within a family, like a peerage. But a baronet is not a peer; he does not
sit in the House of Lords or enjoy the privileges of peers.(22) In the Table of
Precedence, a baronet is below barons and above knights.(23) A baronet's style would be, for example, Sir
Adolphus Ware of Rufford, Bart. This is distinct from a peer, who would be styled
"Adolphus, Lord Sale" (if a baron, viscount, earl, or marquess) or "His
Grace, the Duke of Sale."(24)
(It is similar to the style of a knight, but unlike a knighthood can be inherited. I
need a source on the knighthood.) Baronets and knights are not lords and are never
addressed as "my lord"; however, their wives are called "Lady"
prefixed to their surnames only, and can be called "my lady."(24a)

There is always a distinction between the name of the peerage and the surname.
For almost all peerages above viscounts, they are different, but of course it's very easy
to get them confused, especially since there are several exceptions:

Peerage type

uses "of"

surname

or territorial

Barons

never, but often a territorial addition is made to the title, e.g.,
Baron Holland of Foxley

often, but often a territorial addition is made to the title, e.g.,
Baron Trevor of Bromham

often (occasionally from another source, e.g., Baron Holland of
Foxley)

Viscounts

never, but often a territorial addition is made to the title, e.g.,
Viscount Leinster of Taplow

If you dispute a fact from these pages, pleasecontact me, and if you can, provide a contradicting source.
These pages are a work in progress and I expect them to change in the future, although
what I present today is as accurate as I can make it.